A little athwart five decades ago,...

A little athwart five decades ago, when Ferndale had a population of around 1000 persons one policeman on duty, and no traffic lights, an oil company made a decision that not simply changed the town, but ushered in individual of the biggest economic changes this shire has ever seen.

This fall marks the 50th anniversary of the Ferndale Refinery, now operated according to ConocoPhillips. The refinery is the oldest in the state still in operation, and is significant to the shire because it was the first of what became a wave of high-paying manufacturing do job-works to come to the Ferndale